History Lesson -- Town home about 200 years old

WILTON -- The Brill House, a wonderful old brick home, is now surrounded by new development.

Apartment buildings, complete with sidewalks and street lights, line state Route 9 in the southwest portion of town near the Greenfield line at Daniels Road.

The new SUNY Adirondack college campus with packed parking lots is nearby. The bustling Saratoga Bridges complex occupies former farmland.

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The old sturdy building, with the Palmertown Range as a background, stands alone in another time period.

The whole area was once owned by the Pearsall family. "Pearsall's Corners," as shown on the 1855 Wilton map, is designated as the present junction of Smith Bridge Road and Route 9.

The Pearsall's arrived in Wilton in the early 1800s from Dutchess County. Old George Pearsall was a Quaker and owned portions of Greenfield, living on the west side of the present Route 9.

It is written in family history that he and his wife are buried in the field in front of the hillside and in back of his house.

A picture of his house is included in the "History and Genealogy of the Pearsall Family," by Clarence E. Pearsall. There is no indication of the house or burial in our written Wilton history as recorded.

There was evidence of many property transactions by George Pearsall's sons. The Vincek House, on the corner of Smith Bridge and Jones Road, is linked to the Pearsall family. The Brill family came to the Wilton area in 1813.

John J., the son of John Brill, married Harriet Pearsall in 1817. They had seven children, only four lived to maturity. The Brill cemetery, in back of Saratoga Bridges, has two marked graves, Hanna and James.

The house was built during this time. Beautiful orchards were planted and the family flourished on the surrounding farmland.

The Brill property was sold to Chas A. Waller in 1900 and used as a dairy farm until 1945, when Don Pepper acquired the land to raise turkeys.

This old house could tell some wonderful tales. Let's hope it survives another 100 years or so.